North vs. South: The Survey Please take our survey by following @dayna_browning and following the link in the latest Tweet Or Enter the following link into your browser: http://goo.gl/forms/R9qyd9C8v5 Scan this QR Code:

Soda or Pop? Virtually Connecting Classrooms to Explore Cultural Identities, Stereotypes, & Perceptions Laurie Hogan-McLean, Mattawan Middle School Susan Schierbeek, Mattawan Middle School Dayna Browning, Auburn Junior High School Kim Johnson, Auburn Junior High School

Welcome The South (Auburn, Alabama) Dayna Browning: dmbrowning@auburnschools.org Kim Johnson: kcjohnson@auburnschools.org The North (Mattawan, Michigan) Laurie Hogan-McLean: lhogan@mattawanschools.org Susan Schierbeek: sschierbeek@mattawanschools.org Anne Weston: aweston1@mattawanschools.org

Our Essential Questions What are stereotypes? How are stereotypes formed and broken? What are the cultural differences within America? How do factors like culture and geography shape us and influence our lives?

What We Do What we do together: Blog Take surveys Analyze film Read Write Reflect Publish writing Respond to poetry Write poetry Video conference Tip: Pick and choose from these components to make your own unit or add these elements to a unit you already love and use!

What We Found Students led and participated in rich conversations. Students came to new understandings about themselves, their cultures and how perspectives shape their lives.

We Found out a Lot! Students came to class excited and begging to Skype or blog every day during the unit. Students wrote and responded to others’ writing in thoughtful and meaningful ways. Students wanted to learn & practice digital citizenship.

Common Core This unit hits a bajillion standards. Check out our website to see what piece of the unit aligns to which standards.

A Quick Tour Through Our Unit Step 1: THE HOOK! Stereotypes Survey and “Day & Night” Pixar film. Step 2: AHA MOMENTS. Examine survey results. Step 3: TOUGH QUESTIONS. Video conference & blog. Step 4: READ TO LEARN MORE. Shared readings. Step 5: DEEP TALK. Blogging and video conference 2. Step 6: LET’S WRITE. Common and shared writings. Step 7: REFLECT. Reflective essay. Step 8: EXTEND. Documentary film production and peer review.

Surveys Made Easy We recommend using Google Forms – you can easily share, edit, and create pretty pie charts to review survey results! Your results

Survey Results – The Expected Alabama Michigan

Survey Results – The Unexpected Alabama Michigan

Survey Results – Cultural Views Alabama Michigan

Film Analysis Pixar’s short “Day & Night” Use Notice and Note strategies to deeply analyze what’s happening in the film See “A Tall Order for Pixar Shorts” NCTE 2013 Boston presentation for further instructions

Video Conferencing What we used: Google Hangouts Other options: Skype, Facetime, Tango What we talked about the first time: Unpack the survey results Let them be curious – they want to ask questions about weather, styles, food, music, etc.

Let’s get Digital Blogging (we use Weebly): Set clear rules for students Have students post using first names and school initials Set clear topics for deeper discussion but also allow for students to ask those “style, favorites, what do you do” questions that might not have been answered in the initial video conference (you might be surprised by the new understandings they come to in these informal discussions)

And their posts make you laugh…

Learning About Stereotypes Through Text Fiction:The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Downsiders Neil Schusterman, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Multi-genre short texts: articles, podcasts, videos, poems, personal essays, songs, etc. How to do it together? More blogging! Another video conference

Making Information Accessible Helping all students be successful information navigators

Connecting through Conversation

The 2nd Video Conference It’s time to get deep…

Writing Elements “This I Believe” Essays “Two-tone” Poems “Where I’m From” Poems Reflection Essay

Two-Tone Poetry Discussion

“This I Believe” Discussion

We’re Expanding! C-SPAN Documentaries Our other big expansion ideas: multi-media presentations, co-authored stories or essays, debates, service projects, book clubs

What connected classrooms do for students Gives them an authentic audience Sets a real purpose for learning Creates a safe space to explore stereotypes and “non-PC” things

How can this work for you? List 5 important novels or units you teach. List 5 social issues you think are most relevant for your students. What are two essential questions integrated into your teaching that you want to address better?

Examples Novels or Units: Romeo & Juliet, Canterbury Tales, Poetry Unit, Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, Personal Essays, Persuasive Writing Social Issues: Prejudice, Politics, Immigration, War, Social Media, Identity Essential Questions: How can social media shape identity? How can poetry help us express ourselves? How much of an influence does fate play in our lives?

Focus Circle the top 2-3 units or issues you want to consider using for creating a collaborative classroom.

Share: What are texts, questions, ideas you have for implementing a connected classroom?

Connect with us Check out our website and our new teacher connect page at www.northandsouth8.weebly.com Email us! Dayna Browning: dmbrowning@auburnschools.org Kim Johnson: kcjohnson@auburnschools.org Laurie Hogan-McLean: lhogan@mattawanschools.org Susan Schierbeek: sschierbeek@mattawanschools.org

Question and Answer